Setting the Scene
by Scarlet Tabby
Summary: A story of Jack Bristow and Irina Derevko and their search for their daughter.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This story was written in response to a fantastic tumblr prompt, asking for how Jack and Irina started working together after Sydney's 'death.' As I was writing, I kept getting more and more ideas, so this will most definitely be a continuing story. Review, and the next part will come sooner!

**Setting the Scene**

Jack sat down at his secured laptop and logged in to messaging service that he and Irina had been using for the last few months, ever since Sydney's supposed death. As her parents, they had supported each other through this difficult time, though neither one truly opened up. Jack was about to change that. He began to type.

_I hate to admit it-you know I do-but you're the only one I can trust._

She responded right away, almost as if she had been waiting for him. _How so?_

Jack threw caution to the wind. He didn't even try to beat around the bush. _No one else will believe me. Hell, I barely believe me._

Irina knew exactly what he was getting at. _You really think she could be alive?_

_I don't know. I don't want to have false hope, but I simply cannot believe that she's gone. Forget the dental records, forget the fire, forget the evidence, Sydney can't be dead._

There was a long pause before she responded. _Are you sure you aren't clouded by your emotions as a guilty parent?_

In typical Bristow fashion, he flipped it on her. _Aren't you?_

_A guilty parent or clouded by those feelings?_

_Both._

Surprisingly, Irina answered honestly. _Yes to both. I want more than anything else to believe that our little girl is still out there. That I can somehow even begin to help her see the truth. Don't you think I don't hate that she died believing me to be nothing more than a villain and a traitor?_

Jack continued his favorite role as devil's advocate. _Aren't you those things?_

_Yes, but you know I'm more. _Jack could almost see her eyes rolling on the other side of the computer.

_Do I?_ He replied with a smirk.

_I hope so. And maybe a part of Sydney knows it too._

Jack jumped on her phrasing, using her words to his advantage. _You see? You don't really believe she's gone._

_That was a typo, _she defended.

_That's not true but nevertheless..._

Irina gave up the feigning act. _Honestly, I still can't really get my head around it. I can't believe it._

_Exactly. And we have both lost enough people to know how true death feels. I feel now exactly as I did when my wife died._

_But I'm right here,_ she shot back, surely grinning as she did so.

_That's just what I mean. You weren't really gone. I felt like I was being lied to by the world. Like there was so much unfinished. Like I could find you if anyone would just let me._

Irina paused again. _You need someone to let you find Sydney?_

_I need someone to help me. I can't do this alone,_ Jack admitted reluctantly.

_How can I help?_

**To Be Continued**


	2. Chapter 2

After their long, drawn out conversation, Jack logged out and closed his laptop. He leaned back in his desk chair and stared off into the empty space of his home office. How had he let things get to this? How had he spent the morning watching Michael Vaughn throw his daughter's ashes in the Pacific Ocean? Or what were supposed to by Sydney's ashes, anyway. And now he was _voluntarily_ working with Irina Derevko. She had betrayed him more than any other person on the planet. But, as much as he hated it, she was still Sydney's mother. Jack closed his eyes to reminisce on days long past.

The first time he met Laura, they had been in college. He was a grad student in the psychology department. She was an English lit major, full of optimism and ideology. He should have gotten a clue then about her true nature. _Ideology indeed,_ he sneered. But he had been taken in, just as she had planned.

He rubbed his face. It was nearly three in the morning. If he had thought he would get any sleep at all, he would go to bed. Instead, Jack decided to look back, really look back, for the first time in almost twenty years and remember his life with Laura as it had been, untainted by Irina's truth.

She was so pretty then. Tall and tan with that perfect slim figure and that long hair. And those eyes. Those eyes were always so warm and full of love. That was the first thing that had caught his attention, her incredible eyes. In many ways she still looked the same, but in twenty years, Irina's eyes had changed. They were still the same color and shape, but they were full of…something else.

No, that's not what he wanted to think about right now. Jack forced his mind back on the past. The past was, for the first time, safer to think about than the present.

She walked into the class he was teaching and that was it. Just the mere sight of her had sealed their fate. Laura had hit him like a lightening bolt. So beautiful, but also so smart. She could argue her way to anything. She would never just let anything be. He loved that about her, that never-say-die attitude. It made her a complete pain to live with, but it made their life together exciting. What made her more than just argumentative was the way she did it, making you agree with her instead of just letting her win. A fight with Laura always ended with both parties feeling happy. Later on, it would usually end with the two of them in bed together.

They had almost gotten back into their old pattern in Kashmir, fighting over every little thing. If Sydney hadn't been there, he would have either had sex with her or killed her. It was an even tossup.

His mind flashed on another very vivid memory. Laura had hated being pregnant. She got sick for months and got severely annoyed when he would rush into the bathroom after her and hold her hair back while she threw up into the toilet. She had said that it was too disgusting for anyone to see. But he had certainly seen worse in his line of work. He was just so overjoyed to have a child. Not that he had always wanted children…the CIA had a way of making a man pessimistic about the world. But Laura's optimism and joy had rubbed off on him. He didn't simply want a child, he wanted _her_ child. For nine months, he had visions of a baby with Laura's eyes. And he hadn't been disappointed. Sydney Ann Bristow was the most perfect little girl the world had ever seen. And she was all theirs. She had gotten her mother's eyes and mouth, but his nose and ears. He never had properly apologized to Sydney for that.

The phone rang, causing him to jump out of his memories. He answered it without speaking.

"Stop torturing yourself."

"How do you know I wasn't fast asleep?" he asked, annoyed at her accuracy.

"Because I know you," she responded, the smirk evident in her tone.

He propped his arms up on the desk and leaned forward. "How did you get this number? Are you on a secure line?"

She scoffed. "What do you take me for? Of course I'm on a secure line."

"You didn't answer my first question."

"I wasn't intending on answering it."

_Figures,_ he thought to himself. Irina was nothing if not frustrating.

When he didn't respond, she spoke again. "I just called to tell you to go to bed and get some rest. I'm sure you're still planning on going in tomorrow, despite the fact that no one expects you to."

"I took today off."

"To scatter your daughter's ashes."

"They weren't her ashes."

"Nevertheless."

Jack sighed. "Goodnight." He hung up the phone without waiting for a response.

Irina heard the click on the line. "Goodnight, sweetheart," she whispered into the phone. The wind would carry her message. They would see each other again soon. Then the real work would begin.


End file.
